Suspect sought in woman’s rape near Capitol Hill park

Seattle police are continuing to investigate a woman’s claims that she was raped early Sunday morning near an unknown Capitol Hill park by a man who gave her a ride from a downtown hotel.

No arrests have been made in the attack as police work to determine exactly where it occurred. An SPD spokesperson said surveillance footage is still being sought. The suspect was described as Middle Eastern or Black male driving a red SUV.

According to SPD, the woman, who is in her late 20s, was visiting from Texas and trying to get from downtown to her boyfriend’s Capitol Hill apartment when she got into the suspect’s car sometime before 2 AM. It’s still unclear under what circumstances the woman got into the car, but police said the woman was intoxicated and did not know the driver.

The woman told police she was unfamiliar with the area, but said she knew the driver was not taking her in the right direction. During the ride she told police the suspect turned off to an unknown park on Capitol Hill, pulled her out of the car, and raped her. The suspect then dropped her off near 15th and Thomas where a nearby resident saw the woman and called 911.

Police initially said the woman had used the app-based carshare Uber to hail the ride, but later determined the driver was not affiliated with any taxi company nor did he pretend to be.

Yeah, I can easily imagine someone not from a city where Uber is common not knowing that all Uber SUVs are black and have the little Ü sticker in the window, and being intoxicated won’t help with that any either.

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